The darkness that has plagued United States men’s tennis on the world’s biggest stages for more than a decade is beginning to see a light at the end of the road. Names like Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiaofe, Tommy Paul, Mackie McDonald or Brandon Nakashima, all participating in the 2023 Mexican Tennis Open (AMT), are beginning to leave behind their role as Next Gen prodigies to become realities capable of fighting against any opponent.
-You have seen almost a decade of the growth of tennis in the United States, what do you consider caused the change?
“I think we’re a group that we’ve been guided by, built on, competing with each other and pushing each other. That’s why we’re seeing this generation improve because we see one person do something and the rest of the team feels like they can do it. We have a lot of healthy competition and maybe that’s something that other generations didn’t have much, “Taylor Fritz told The Economist in conference after her win over Frances Tiafoe.
An American chain in the final stages. In the quarterfinals, Fritz won his sixth consecutive victory against Tiafoe and will face his compatriot Tommy Paul in the semifinals, who in turn beat Californian Mackenzie McDonald.
“Frances is one of my close friends, we both know each other’s game very well. Tommy has been playing well. It’s been a while since we’ve played each other and it will be a good match.” Whether it’s Fritz, Tiafoe, Paul or McDonald, One of them will hear his name in the AMT 2023 final and have a chance to give the United States men’s tennis just its third ATP 500 title in the last 12 years. In terms of statistics, American tennis players are still far from the glory days written just before entering the new millennium, but it seems that the curve is already beginning to rise.
“I definitely think one of us will have a good chance to win another Grand Slam for the United States in the next two years,” Brandon Nakashima declared in 2021, when he was just 20 years old and one of three Americans to compete on the ATP Next Gen Finals with Sebastian Korda and Jenson Brooksby. In Acapulco, his compatriots are making it clear that they are fighting for the highest positions.
The Californian Taylor Fritz, 25, was left with the label of the main candidate for the title in the AMT 2023 from the quarterfinals, since before that round the two best seeds were left out: the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (low due to injury ) and the Norwegian Casper Ruud (eliminated in the round of 16 by the Japanese Taro Daniel, who came from the qualies).
Fritz is playing his eighth year as an ATP professional and has already accumulated five titles out of a total of 10 finals. Although in Grand Slams he has not managed to get past the quarterfinals (Wimbledon 2022 was his best performance), he already holds a Masters 1000 championship (Indian Wells 2022) and on Mexican soil he is looking for his second ATP 500 crown after winning at the 2020 Japan Open.
Fritz’s special ingredient is that he is the highest ranked American in the world today, ranking 5th in the ATP above established figures such as Daniil Medvedev (7) and Rafael Nadal (8). Being the only one from his country in the global top 10 is a pressure that he is aware of and with which he hopes to encourage more compatriots.
“I think people are going to want to watch tennis if we have someone who is at the top, that’s what someone like Serena Williams did for so long, she brought so much attention to the sport that so many now play and are inspired by her. She is the best player of all time, so hopefully on the men’s side I can become one of the best, win Grand Slams and bring that attention back to tennis in my country”, declared Fritz at the beginning of 2023.
Only Taylor Fritz in Japan 2020 and Sam Querrey in Acapulco 2017 have been able to give ATP 500 titles to the United States between 2012 and so far in 2023. It is a drought slightly higher than that of Grand Slams, where no American has won since the US Open 2003, two decades ago.
However, the present and especially the future look encouraging. The United States was the country with the most titles in both singles and doubles in 2022, with 22 in the men’s branch and 21 in the women’s. “American players have pushed and helped each other to believe that they can compete near the highest level (…) Frances Tiafoe made huge improvements and Taylor Fritz is a phenomenally superior ball-striker, he is a legitimate top 10 player in the world and a threat to make a deep run,” former player John McEnroe told Eurosport at the end of 2022.
A decade ago, a Bleacher Report reported that tennis was “dying” in the United States, and that one of the main reasons was the low participation in this sport from the university level, since 51% of Division I players schoolboy were foreigners. Another factor was the reduction of high-level tournaments on US soil, such as the move of the SAP Championship from California to Rio de Janeiro and the Carlsbad Open to Tokyo.
The turning point came in May 2021, when for the first time in the history of tennis’ computerized rankings, no Americans appeared in the men’s top 30. Former player Brad Gilbert told ESPN that another factor is the lack of practice of tennis players in training in other types of conditions.
“My theory on this has been the same for a while and it won’t change: we need our young players, when they’re 13 or 14, to accept playing on clay a lot more. Until we do that, we’re going to have problems. Clay teaches you a lot to grow, from discipline to footwork, and a lot of kids play one or two tournaments a year on clay in the United States, they don’t do that.”
In the 2023 AMT kickoff week, 10 Americans appeared in the world’s top 50, with Taylor Fritz (5), Frances Tiafoe (15) and Tommy Paul (23) as the top three, all quarterfinalists in Acapulco. In the top 100 there are, in total, 14 tennis players of this nationality. Fritz has five crowns on his resume, Tiafoe and Paul only hold one 250-level title each, while McDonald, the other American Open 2023 quarterfinalist, has no titles yet.
